Seven Days

Tools

It's really the most inconsequential result of what happened that Tuesday (realize that, from now on, all you have to say is "that Tuesday" and people will know what you're talking about), but a lot of schedules have been changing for various reasons. So before you go out, make sure to call and double-check that everything is still on.

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Thursday

Figure I might as well tell you about this, in case it helps: A local hypnotherapist will be offering free group healing sessions today through Saturday to deal with the terrorist attacks. Maybe you'll see me there -- just typing those last two words make me sick. For details, locations and times, call Smooth Changes, 271-6089.

But if you'd prefer to look outward and initiate healing on another level, check out the event featuring New York author and peace activist Matt Meyer, who will discuss his book Guns and Gandhi in Africa, co-authored with pan-African activist Bill Sutherland, tonight at the Smokebrush Center. See page 38 for more.

28 Friday

Testify! Who couldn't use a generous dose of gospel and swing right now? The Colorado Springs Symphony Pops has baritone Jubilant Sykes, Club Swing and Skitch Henderson on the bill this weekend at the Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave. Tickets range from $9 to $44. Call 520-SHOW.

Not three days ago, I found myself traveling through the neighborhoods of Chicago at 2 a.m., in a car full of tired journalists, trying to find a Vienna beef sausage, skin on. Not a hot dog or a kielbasa, mind you, but a Vienna beef sausage -- skin on. A venerable member of our party had fixated on the sausage and demanded satisfaction, quieting objections with his pledge to always remind us of our failures, were we to abort the mission. Through Bucktown and Wicker Park we drove, out to Skokie and finally all the way up to Evanston. We never did find the damn sausage, and we never will hear the end of it. Therefore, I have no interest in Oktoberfests this year. I have had enough beer and sausage talk to last me at least until 2003.

But if you want to go, the huge Germanic orgy begins today over at Penrose Equestrian Center, 1045 W. Rio Grande. Besides the beers, brats and oom-pahs, there's family stuff like clowns and crafts, too. It's just a big warm fuzzy for all parties involved. Admission is $5 and the fest continues next weekend as well. Call 477-1802.

Woodland Park is also hosting a Rocky Mountain Oktoberfest, where you'll be surrounded by crisp, high peaks almost just like, but still completely different from, the Alps. Go on, get out your lederhosen and perhaps warm up with a few "Riiiiiicolaaaaas" before you get freaky with your yodeling, Alpine Boy, for this is the place to do it. This fest costs $3 to $5; call 687-9885. Unlike the Colorado Springs festival, the Rocky Mountain installment only happens today from 5 to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 3 to 11 p.m. at the Ute Pass Cultural Center, Highway 24 and Fairview.

29 Saturday

Ask yourself, "Does my pelvis quiver in anticipation of the next dirty bass line? Does my ass begin to jiggle of its own accord during the warm-up? Have I thrown my hands in the air? Do I not care?" If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be listening to Opie Gone Bad, Denver's finest quality rock stars. They play the Acoustic Coffee Lounge, 5152 Centennial Blvd., tonight at 8:30. Call 268-9951.

30 Sunday

A group of local youth convinced The Chief (611 N. Main St. in Pueblo) to allow them to have a big freaky show there to benefit the Southern Colorado AIDS Project. The Chief donated the space, the kids got bands, and you get Artists Against Discrimination, which begins tonight at 5. It cost just five dolla to see 2nd Street Review, Martini Shot, Angels of Deception, HighLyfe Playaz, Natural Born Nothings, Bapp Doggz, Fatal Dose and more. Call 578-9092.

01 Monday

See Wednesday. Better yet, see Denver.

02 Tuesday

Sack out on the couch and get a little peace and love, which you could use in a big way, from your sweet, sweet TV tonight. On TNT, cable channel 60, they've got a John Lennon tribute concert scheduled. It was supposed to run Sept. 11 but, well, yeah. They've rescheduled and renamed, and now it's called Come Together: A Night For John Lennon's Words & Music, Dedicated to New York City and Its People. Hosted by actor Kevin Spacey, artists scheduled to perform the Lennon song that touched them the most include Lou Reed, Beck, Moby, Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper, Dave Matthews, the Isley Brothers, Marc Anthony, Nelly Furtado, Shelby Lynne, Stone Temple Pilots and Yolanda Adams. Come Together airs at 8 p.m.

03 Wednesday

Apparently, the rest of the week has been cancelled due to lack of participation. Seems like that has been happening a lot, right? Well, all I can say is, It's not my fault. If there were anything going on within a 75-mile radius (that anybody bothered to tell me about), I'd tell you about it. Let me clarify -- there are some health programs, flu shots and depression clinics and whatnot, so if you're interested in that, check out Health & Healing in the Listings. And yes, there are some concerts in Denver, but nothing that relates directly, wholly, uniformly, to this little town. So I leave you, dear readers, to wallow in my self-loathing. I do all I can to keep you happy, but sometimes it's just a losing battle. Stick with me until Christmas, just a few months more, and I promise things will start looking up.

Kristen Sherwood

-------------------------------------------------------------Gay and Lesbian Theater Festival Enters Its Sixth Year

Six years ago, the Upstart Performing Ensemble squeezed itself into the cabaret space at the Smokebrush and presented Colorado Springs with the Gay and Lesbian Theater Festival. The premise was simple: three weeks, three plays, all highlighting the work of popular gay or lesbian playwrights.

Now in its sixth year, the Festival has become a staple of the fall theater season, tickets often selling out.

This year's festival opens Wednesday night, Oct. 3, with The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Written by Paul Rudnick, possibly one of the funniest stage writers of this generation, The Most Fabulous Story offers a modern day twist on the Garden of Eden scene -- the age-old, Adam and Steve, joined by their lesbian counterparts, Jane and Mabel. Act One begins in the Garden of Eden. Act Two finds the foursome dealing with the trials and tribulations of modern-day Manhattan.

Sappho in Love, written by Carolyn Cage, is the second show of the series. Sort of a lesbian Midsummer Night's Dream mixed with last year's cult movie classic But I'm A Cheerleader, Sappho in Love reflects on coupledom, celibacy, seduction and intimacy.

Closing out the festival is another script penned by Rudnick, the romantic comedy Jeffrey. The title character is a gay waiter/actor who is skittish of romantic relationships. Constantly struggling with the question of what exactly constitutes safe sex, he ultimately reconciles himself to celibacy, until his friends intervene.

The Gay and Lesbian Theater Festival runs from Oct. 3 to Oct. 20 at the Smokebrush Center. Tickets are $12 per show, or $27 for all three. Call 636-5089 for reservations or passes.